
By Jennifer McShane
15th Dec 2015
15th Dec 2015
Reality star Kim Kardashian has just given birth to her second child, son Saint West and before having him she received praise for being candid about her pregnancy and the fact that she found it a major struggle for the duration. ?I’m really not complaining, I’m just being honest. I hate it. You know pregnancy is not for me. I’ve heard stories forever about how amazing pregnancy is from my mom and Kourtney and that’s just not the case for me, and I’m not going to sit here and lie and act like it’s the most blissful experience. It’s awful,? she said recently.
Despite reports of a difficult birth the second time around, she is said to be recovering well, and in a post on her website, revealed the reason. The 35-year-old said that she is eating her placenta (in the form of supplement pills) after her son’s birth, to aid her body’s recovery and to try to fight off symptoms of postnatal depression.
In the end she decided to follow in sister Kourtney’s footsteps and go down the?placenta-encapsulation route, also known as “Placentophagia.”
My experience eating my placenta is up on my app! https://www.kimkardashianwest.com/behind-the-scenes/493-kim-kardashian-eating-my-placenta pic.twitter.com/xcCEtVCvzb
? Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) December 14, 2015
“I heard so many stories when I was pregnant with North of moms who never ate their placenta with their first baby and then had postpartum depression, but then when they took the pills with their second baby, they did not suffer from depression!” she continued. “So I thought, why not try it? What do I have to lose?”
“I really didn’t want the baby blues and thought I can’t go wrong with taking a pill made of my own hormones – made by me, for me,” she wrote. “I started researching and read about so many moms who felt this same way and said the overall healing process was so much easier.”
Indeed, fellow celebrities such as January Jones, Kim Zolciak, and Holly Madison have spoken about doing the same, and Kardashian was quick to say she felt the benefits from an early stage. “Every time I take a pill, I feel a surge of energy and feel really healthy and good. I totally recommend it to anyone considering it!?
While this is a fairly popular procedure in the US, it hasn’t reached the same heights over here – though we do hear stories of new mums who have done the same and felt better for it?now and again, it is still a unregulated industry, according to?the Master of the Rotunda Hospital?but a midwife informed me that a “growing number of Irish women” are asking to keep theirs after the birth process for the same reason. “We don’t store the placenta for women,” explained a midwife in the Rotunda. “We simply give it to them to hand over to a trained and licensed Placenta Encapsulation Specialist (of which there are a number of in Ireland) so they can prepare it accordingly.”
Research suggests opting to do this’may prevent postnatal depression, increase milk supply and help mothers gain their energy back, but its benefits aren’t fully proven, so if you need further information, a trip to your GP’s office is the first step to take.
Kim K has, at least, started a conversation about something that isn’t the easiest to bring up (not over dinner, at any rate), and you have to hand it to her for just getting it out there with no airs and graces.
Via US Weekly